Why doesn’t Hello Kitty have a mouth? This is one of the most asked questions about Hello Kitty in the world!
And who can blame people for being curious about it?
It’s plain to see that Hello Kitty is missing something that most other characters have: a mouth.
Many theories and urban legends have sprung up to try to explain why Hello Kitty doesn’t have a mouth.
The most popular of these stories is actually quite shocking. It says that Hello Kitty doesn’t have a mouth because a mother made a deal with the devil…
The story goes that a little girl got mouth cancer and was going to die. Her mother desperately wanted to save her. She prayed to God to spare her daughter but God did not answer her prayer.
She then in desperation prayed to the Devil, and he said he would save her daughter’s life but on one condition. The condition was that the mother create a toy company that paid homage to him.
The mother agreed and the girl’s life was spared. She then had to hold up her end of the bargain, and started a toy company featuring Hello Kitty. But she drew Hello Kitty without a mouth in memory of when her daughter had mouth cancer.
That’s the story, but not to worry, Hello Kitty did not come from such dark origins.
So why doesn’t Hello Kitty have a mouth?
The answer is simple.
The creator of Hello Kitty, a woman named Yuko Shimizu, wanted Hello Kitty to be a character that was able to help anyone in the world that came in contact with a Hello Kitty item.
She created Hello Kitty without a mouth so that a person could imagine Hello Kitty with the same emotions that they themselves were feeling.
Like if you felt sad, then you could imagine that Hello Kitty was frowning. And if you felt happy then you could imagine Hello Kitty was happy just like you.
This is where one of the Hello Kitty slogans “Happy or sad together,” comes from.
Yuko Shimizu felt that if Hello Kitty could share a person’s feelings then they could see Hello Kitty as an understanding friend.
Drawing Hello Kitty without a mouth was a genius move and has been an important part of Hello Kitty’s popularity.
Because, well, who couldn’t use an extra friend to share in your feelings? Especially a friend that is as adorable as Hello Kitty!
